North Rhine-Westphalia: metal warning strikes: union threatens to tighten

Düsseldorf/Cologne (dpa/lnw) - In the current wage dispute in the metal and electrical industry, IG Metall NRW has again threatened to intensify its strike actions.

North Rhine-Westphalia: metal warning strikes: union threatens to tighten

Düsseldorf/Cologne (dpa/lnw) - In the current wage dispute in the metal and electrical industry, IG Metall NRW has again threatened to intensify its strike actions. A solution must be found in Baden-Württemberg on Thursday, "otherwise the conflict will escalate," said the district manager of IG Metall NRW and negotiator Knut Giesler on Wednesday in Cologne, according to a union statement. In the fifth round of negotiations in the Baden-Württemberg district, there could be a pilot agreement on Thursday, which would then form the basis for agreements in the other German collective bargaining districts.

According to IG Metall, around 15,000 employees from 133 companies took part in warning strikes in NRW on Wednesday. Since the end of the peace obligation at the end of October, a total of almost 106,000 employees from over 900 companies in NRW have taken part in warning strikes, it said. Around 700,000 people are employed in the sector in NRW.

The union announced further warning strikes in more than 70 companies across the country on Thursday. At a rally in Dortmund, the first IG Metall chairman Jörg Hofmann wants to speak to the employees. This is to be preceded by a demonstration involving employees from 20 companies.

In the nationwide regionally conducted negotiations, the employers had each offered one-off payments of 3,000 euros and an unspecified increase in the wage tables for a period of 30 months. IG Metall is demanding eight percent more money for the approximately 3.9 million employees nationwide for a period of twelve months.